NOM’s Iowa Bus Tour Shaping Up To Be (Another) Major Flop

August 11, 2011 5:38 pm ET by Carlos Maza

The
National Organization for Marriage (NOM) should probably just stop launching
bus tours.

On
Tuesday, NOM -- along with the anti-gay
Family Research Council and anti-choice Susan B. Anthony List -- began its 2011 “Values Bus Tour,” which plans
to stop at 22 Iowa cities and energize ‘value voters’ to participate in the
Ames Straw Poll on August 13 (the day the tour ends).

So
far, tour stops have included appearances from GOP presidential candidates Rick
Santorum and Tim Pawlenty, with others expected to show up before the week
ends.

Not
making appearances so far? Actual voters.

Looking over the scant news coverage the tour has received, it appears
that few of NOM loyal followers bothered coming out to show their support.

Pro-life and pro-family activists brought their Values Voter
Bus Tour to Muscatine’s riverfront Tuesday afternoon, telling a crowd of
about 20 people they’ll work to ensure the eventual GOP’s presidential
nominee is on board with their values.

Connie Mackey, president of Family Research Council Action,
which supports anti-abortion candidates and pro-family issues, told a small
crowd at Lafayette Park that the purpose of the 1,305-mile tour through 22
Iowa cities is to support those presidential candidates who have taken the pledge
to support life and marriage.

KWQC caught a shot of the crowd awaiting the tour's arrival at Lafayette Park:

Standing beside a blue charter bus painted with the words:
“Votes Have Consequences,” leaders of several socially conservative
organizations urged about 20 people in the parking lot of a Culver’s
restaurant in Coralville to consider social issues this election and to
vote for candidates who would work to repeal legislation that allows abortion.

Day
2:

Presidential candidate and former Pennsylvania Senator, Rick
Santorum was at the tour and he addressed a crowd comprised mostly of
staffers and the media. Despite the fact he has refused to endorse an
anti-same sex marriage pledge from another Iowa group, he did affirm his
support for a pro-life pledge touted by the tour.

“The culture has been damaged beyond words” in recent years,
said Connie Mackey of the Family Research Council, one of those on the Values
Voter Bus Tour who spoke to a handful of people in Central Park.

Mind
you, this is the same bus tour that NOM President Brian Brown asked his “tens of thousands of supporters” to show up for. This is the same bus tour that Chris Plante,
NOM’s Rhode Island director, predicted would create the "critical mass" needed
to replace President Obama in 2012. Even NOM, while promoting the tour on its website, couldn't find a picture that made the tour appear like a success.

The
turnout for the “Values Bus Tour” appears to be even worse than NOM’s last
public relations disaster, the sparsely
attended 2010 Summer for Marriage bus tour.

That’s
not too surprising, considering how quickly the American public is moving towards embracing full marriage equality.

The
only question now is how much more gas money anti-gay groups will waste before they
decide to stay home.